The gospel account of Jesus’ ministry indicates that He healed both the infirmities and plagues of the people. What is the difference between infirmities and plagues? To get a handle on the meaning of plague, we must understand a practice of the Romans in those days. Plague is used to describe a whip, the kind which the Roman used on criminals. By application a plague could be any number of things that inflict pain. This is why though it is sometimes used to describe disease, it doesn’t have to be so since it is not only diseases that inflict pain. In other words, a disease will always qualify to be described as a plague, but not all plagues are diseases. Another important thing about plague is that the sufferer may be taking it in by proxy.
There are people who go through all kinds of plague, though they are not physically sick. The same good news applies; Jesus can provide cure for all of our plagues.
A helpless father brought his son to Jesus because of an unclean spirit that used to vex him. The spirit had cast him into fire and sometimes into water. Undoubtedly the boy suffered several infirmities. But his father who daily watched his ordeals could be said to be undergoing a plague. The physical pain of his son must have been traumatic for him. I know of a lady who we could say was plagued because of her son. The teenage son was always in trouble; he was either stabbing someone or getting stabbed, forcing the mother to appear at the police station often. This woman had no infirmities; but she had a plague. There are people who go through all kinds of plague, though they are not physically sick. The same good news applies; Jesus can provide cure for all of our plagues.